On Sunday December 27th, the parishes of Little Flower and Holy Cross came together for a wonderful celebration to honor Father Jose Periyilkatte on the 20th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Priesthood. About 160 parishioners and friends, along with Father Marcel George, Father Ken Koep, Father Norm Marcotte and Father John Weckend gathered at Little Flower hall for a wonderful roast beef supper, followed by a short program to help Father Jose celebrate this momentous occasion.
The evening was jointly emceed by Lori Garchinski and Carol Kuntz representing both parishes. The evening began with the crowd enjoying many laughs when ‘a man called Charlie’ (aka Father John Weckend) stopped by to congratulate Father Jose and kick off the evening. Charlie did offer his words of wisdom to the crowd as well as Fr Jose personally! The crowd was then treated to music when members of the music ministry teams from both parishes pooled their talents to provide entertainment and performed some favorite Christmas carols and had the crowd singing along. Pastoral Council presentations were made by both Ruth Robillard and Diane Goski on behalf of Holy Cross and Little Flower parishes respectively. This was then followed by presentations by the Little Flower Men’s Club, Holy Cross Knights of Columbus and the CWL from both parishes.
Father Jose then had the floor and shared a bit about his faith journey and the differences he encountered when he came to Canada after spending the first 10 years of his priesthood in India. He expressed his gratitude for the welcome he received from both parishes and for making him feel like family. He shared that he often comforts his family in India by sharing that he feels welcomed here in Canada by his new family in both of his parishes. He closed out the evening by thanking everyone for coming out and helping to make the celebration a memorable one. It truly was a great celebration for a wonderful man who has helped support two parishes over the past few years.
